Free Republic

Here in the nation’s capital and in the Bay State, some folks are perplexed by the curious case of Sen. Scott Brown and his decision to back President Obama’s controversial recess appointment last week — a move that irked his Republican comrades and placed him squarely on the side of his likely Democratic challenger. Over the past year, the White House and congressional Republicans have engaged in an epic battle over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a watchdog agency created by the Dodd-Frank Act and built from the ground up by Elizabeth Warren. Republicans hate the bureau, saying it’s too...

Senator John F. Kerry, laboring to achieve a foreign policy victory that would be a highlight of his career, gained crucial support yesterday for a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia from his Republican counterpart, Senator Scott Brown. Brown’s backing gave Kerry additional momentum heading into a possible vote today. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry is President Obama’s man in charge of trying to lock down the two-thirds support of the Senate — 67 votes if every member shows up — required to ratify the New START pact. Kerry and other senators have predicted passage but...